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2022 | Book | 1. edition

Classification and Basics of Project Management in Logistics and SCM Read chapter Read first chapter

Project Management in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Practical Guide With Examples From Industry, Trade and Services

Editor: Dirk H. Hartel

Publisher: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

Book Series : Springer Series in Supply Chain Management

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

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About this book

This practice-oriented guide comprehensively describes the basics of planning and implementing project management in logistics and supply chain management. It also presents a range of methods and tools for assessing project risks and monitoring projects.

Containing ten detailed and practical examples involving Germany-based global players like Porsche, Würth, Continental and SME, the book shares valuable and well-founded insights into systematic project management. As such, it is chiefly intended for career starters, career changers and students in the field of logistics and supply chain management.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Conceptual Foundations

Frontmatter
1. Classification and Basics of Project Management in Logistics and SCM
Abstract
It is impossible to imagine everyday life without projects. In many companies, the proportion of work that is carried out in the form of projects is as high as 50 percent. Although the term “project” is well established in science, in everyday business and private life, no generally acceptable definition has yet been established. The ISO 21500 series of standards, which deals with projects and project management, is the most accepted definition.
Dirk H. Hartel
2. Procedure in Project Work
Abstract
The success of a project is influenced by participants, their ideas, the will to implement as well as the available resources, and also significantly by a logically structured approach. Dividing the project into individual, self-contained project phasesnot only reduces complexity but also illustrates the common thread to all stakeholders. In addition, these form the basis for subsequent project control by comparing target and actual values with each other.
Dirk H. Hartel
3. Toolbox of Supply Chain Management
Abstract
In an even more dynamic world companies and their supply chains have to represent attributes like agility, speed, flexibility, and efficiency in order to put itself in a powerful market position and therefore to stay adaptable. Agile supply chain structures are able to provide products and services of high and consistent quality as well as reacting responsive and flexible regarding changing business environments. In order to generate such a supply chain strategy and design a Logistics Manager needs basic tools and techniques (material supply strategy, make or buy analysis for outsourcing decisions, risk matrix, activity based costing, value stream mapping, method times measurement, A3-report), which will be explained and described in the following chapter. The tools are separated into two dimensions (cost- and risk-related) and two levels (strategic and operational) resulting in four quadrants which means that they are categorized in the area in which they contribute best to the respective dimension and level.
Pascal Haug
4. Agile Project Management in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Abstract
The Agile Manifesto from 2001 represents the initial spark of agile project management. It was adopted by software developers and advocates that project planning should not be carried out at the beginning of the project, but rather iteratively. With the help of new roles in the project (product owner, scrum master and scrum team) as well as sprint workshops, projects should be implemented more efficiently and faster.
Decision makers need to be ready for surprises and keep an open mind and be flexible to cope with changes and uncertainties. (Participant’s voice in the context of a survey of Lison and Hartel).
The Agile Manifest (Beck et al., 2001) from 2001 represents the initial spark of agile project management. It was adopted by software developers and advocates that project planning should not be carried out at beginning of the project, but rather iteratively. With the help of new roles in the project (product owner, scrum master and scrum team) as well as sprint workshops, projects should be implemented more efficiently and faster.
Dirk H. Hartel
5. Toolbox of Project Controlling
Abstract
The Project Management Institute defines project management as the application of knowledge, skills, methods, and techniques to the processes within a project. In the following, a project is understood as a temporary, relatively innovative, and risky task of considerable complexity, which usually requires separate management due to its difficulty and importance. Due to certain uniqueness or first-time nature, the degree of innovation, the complexity and the resulting risk, constant monitoring of the economic risks as well as the opportunities is required. For this purpose, appropriately adapted instruments of controlling, as applied in the regular organization, can be used. In a broader sense, this also includes instruments of strategic controlling, namely the balanced scorecard and risk management.
Armin F. Schwolgin
6. Risk Management in Logistics and SCM Projects
Abstract
Risks typically emerge in project management, as projects are usually new and unique by definition. In this chapter, risk fields in logistics projects are classified, and entire risk process is discussed, i.e. Risk analysis and assessment, management and control. Based on company examples, tools and methods are presented and applied to logistics topics.
Risk management is not a means to an end in logistics projects, but should rather pursue three essential goals:
  • Identify, evaluate, and control project risks that can be influenced.
  • Initiate measures for project risks that cannot be influenced.
  • Create flexible project structures to consciously deal with unpredictable risks.
In principle, this is an elementary component of project controlling, which will be examined in more details below. Since imponderables must be expected in logistics and supply chain projects in particular, the focus will be on addressing these.
Dirk H. Hartel
7. Digitalization in Logistics
Abstract
As a cross-sectional function, logistics touches industry and commerce in equal measure—and in all sectors of economy. In this respect, the digitalization of logistics is a topic that is of enormous importance for the entire economy. This has been evidenced not only by the intensive technical discussions, but also by the broad interest shown by the general business press. The debate as to whether the digitization of logistics is imminent in the coming years is anything but controversial. The advantages of networked and integrated supply chains over the current situation are obvious. Although a lot has already happened, especially in intralogistics, companies still have to deal with inadequate transparency, information deficits, and fragmented transport chains in many areas. The use of digital technology can solve many of these problems—in addition, newcomers from the technology industry can efficiently replace some outdated business models.
Hence investing in digitization is worthwhile. Or is it not? Indeed, according to an annual study by Capgemini, almost half of companies increased their IT budgets in 2017, a quarter of them by more than 10%. Given the considerable challenges of digitization, this seems more like a drop in the bucket. A true revolution looks different—especially since a significant portion of the additional budget flows in updating the legacy systems rather than in innovation projects. In addition to this, the digitization of logistics competes with digitization projects from other areas of the company.
The sluggish investment behavior reflects the fact that the digitization of logistics is about detailed work that has slowed down not only due to small budgets, but also due to a wide variety of technical, commercial, and legal risks and, last but not least, the lack of skilled IT staff. None of this will stop the digitization trend. However, it can be assumed that it is progressing more slowly than many technology providers, in particular, would like to admit.
Björn Helmke

Case Studies

Frontmatter
8. Project Management in the Field of Supply Chain Management Automotive at Continental AG
Abstract
The chapter describes how projects in the field of Supply Chain Management—Automotive are planned and implemented in practice at Continental AG. The overall concept, which was successfully introduced at Continental under the title “PM @ SCMA”, focuses specifically on projects in the field of logistics and SCM and was developed for employees who work in these specific areas. It describes processes, rules, definitions, tools and reporting for all phases of logistics projects. Finally, important success factors that need to be taken into account when introducing such a concept are discussed.
Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for the sustainable and networked mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. Continental achieved sales of 44.5 billion euros in 2019 and currently employs more than 230,000 people in 59 countries and markets.
Christoph Seifert, Nicoleta Bot
9. Porsche AG: Project Shipping Department Axles at the Zuffenhausen Plant
Abstract
At Porsche AG’s main plant in Zuffenhausen, which has been in operation since 1954, currently, approximately 3100 production employees (including salaried employees) work in two shifts, five days a week. True to the Porsche production system, 200 vehicles of all sports car derivatives of Carrera and Boxster series are manufactured daily on a mixed production line. The core of the Porsche production system is produced according to pearl necklace principle, in which the sequence of assembly of individual vehicle orders is determined as early as eight days before start of assembly and is consistently adhered to. Another key aspect is the lean arrangement of pre-assembly operations in close proximity to final assembly site. Pre-assembly of various modules is synchronized with the assembly cycle.
Since 2012, the Boxster and Cayman series have been manufactured in a production network with the Volkswagen site (VW OS) according to same principles. As part of connection of Osnabrück production site, a shipping department had to be designed and implemented for the component delivery of axles at the Zuffenhausen site. Following Porsche production principle, it was decided to manufacture the axles for both sites on the same pre-assembly lines and to locate the shipping department in direct vicinity of last pre-assembly step. Shortly before planned start of the project, significant changes in general conditions arose and resulted in higher volume of work than originally planned. This was to be carried out before planned commissioning of the shipping department.
Starting with a description of project organization set up and the project management instruments used, practical experience with their application is presented as an example. This experience report is divided into three phases—conception, detailed and implementation planning, and realization and handover. Finally, factors are derived that made the project a success or from which conclusions (lessons learned) can be drawn for future projects.
Karsten Seidl, René Baron
10. AGCO Smart Logistics: Transformation of a Decentralized Inbound Supply Chain to a Centralized 4PL-Driven Inbound Supply Chain
Abstract
Founded in 1990, AGCO is a leading global manufacturer of agricultural machinery with its four core brands Challenger, Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra as well as its business unit AGCO Grain & Protein. The AGCO Smart Logistics initiative implemented by AGCO pursues the goal of increasing quality and resource efficiency in the inbound supply chain. Through the use of a 4PL approach coupled with state-of-the-art IT solutions, the supply chain organization, which was previously decentralized across the 10 European plants and based on heterogeneous processes, was centralized and standardized in a very short time. Resulting from the real-time availability of movement data, the company is able to control the flow of materials throughout the inbound supply chain at any time, optimize these flows on an ongoing basis and thus achieve cost savings of more than 25%. At the same time, performance has significantly increased through the integration of a risk management solution and standardized KPIs.
Bülent Ileri, Michael Bülow, Patrick Jansen
11. LAPP Group: Digitalisation of Obtaining Long-Term Supplier Declarations as Part of Process Automation in the Supply Chain
Abstract
As in many companies, LAPP currently considers digitalisation as one of the most important issues for the future. Firmly established in the corporate strategy, one of the aims of this initiative is to automate processes using appropriate system solutions. This case study demonstrates how a project to implement automation of the process for obtaining long-term supplier declarations (LTSDs) was successfully completed using a structured approach.
Obtaining long-term supplier declarations (LTSDs) is the basis for ensuring a smooth customs declaration process. At LAPP, the process for obtaining the LTSD was previously based on numerous manual steps and was executed in a decentralised manner by individual companies in the group. The case study explains how a current situation analysis provided a structured identification of weaknesses and how a target concept was created and implemented. As an output of this project, LAPP now has a centralised and automated system for obtaining LTSDs in Europe. This makes the entire process leaner and also ensures a high data quality while simultaneously reducing the amount of human effort required. Successful project management enabled complexity of the issue to be dealt with through successful cooperation using cross-departmental interfaces.
Starting with project initiation, in which the initial situation and the project objectives are described in detail, the case study continues with an outline of project planning phase. The actual project implementation is described in the third section of the case study. Finally, we will look at the success factors and lessons learned before summarising the entire project in the final section.
Cinja Wolf, Tobias Frank
12. Larsen & Toubro Ltd.: Logistics Infrastructure Project Management in Metropolitan Cities like Mumbai
Abstract
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is a large Indian conglomerate with operations in more than 40 countries. The company has multiple lines of business, and the most significant one is the construction business. In this division, the company takes up turnkey projects ranging from nuclear reactors to offshore drilling platforms and metro rail projects around the world. The current case describes the logistics problems faced by the company while executing a metro rail project in Mumbai, India
Joginder Lamba
13. Würth: Modular Logistics
Abstract
Projects have to be well planned and structured if they are to deliver desired success for a company. At Würth, a company based in Künzelsau, there is a dedicated department for this purpose, which develops and organizes projects and manages these holistically until these are handed over to operations. The most important thing is that the right employees, such as IT specialists, purchasing managers, or operating technicians, come together in project team and they are able to detach themselves from day-to-day business to a certain extent. This is because it is crucial to define the project in an overall optimal way from the point of view of company and not individual departments.
Jörg Becker, Frank Claussen
14. Implementation of a Kaizen Organization in an Existing Retail Warehouse
Abstract
Implementing a Kaizen organization in an existing retail warehouse, or motivating the team there to adopt Kaizen, is a very complex undertaking. The challenge is to break down common behavioral patterns and to create a rethinking of existing ways of working. It is necessary to set up structures at the site that makes it possible to work according to Kaizen principles in the first place.
Alexander Schwämmle
15. dm-drogerie markt: Conversion of an Assortment Area from Decentralized to Centralized Inventory Management and Supply
Abstract
Using the accessories product range as an example, the case study shows how a change in inventory management in a retail company can improve the range of products on offer to customers and reduce the workload of store employees. Seasonality, fashion trends and covering a variety of price ranges determine the replenishment strategies required for the store. What are the specifics that, from a customer and assortment perspective, make it necessary to manage according to either push or pull principles?
Georg Rilling
16. Arthur Bechtel Classic Motors: Project Management in the Transportation Logistics of High-Value Classic Cars
Abstract
All over the world, classic cars are fascinating more and more, and a multitude of classic car fairs, rallies, meetings, rides and museums are being organized around the world. Arthur Bechtel Classic Motors deals with classic cars worldwide, and therefore, events abroad are important building blocks for brand expansion and developing contacts with new customers. An important point in planning to participate in an event such as a Concours d’ Elegance abroad is the transportation of the classic vehicle to the event location.
Sebastian Schänzle
17. The Best Logistics Costs Are those that Do Not Even Arise at all
Abstract
ITcollection Service GmbH offers small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a complete full-service solution (outsourcing) for their IT infrastructure and telecommunication. This paper is about improving goods and information logistics over a period of six years. The four principles of industrialisation (standardisation, automation, rationalisation and optimisation) are used consistently. Other methods are single sourcing, CIP and Systematic Project Management.
Thomas Barsch
Metadata
Title
Project Management in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Editor
Dirk H. Hartel
Copyright Year
2022
Publisher
Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
Electronic ISBN
978-3-658-35882-2
Print ISBN
978-3-658-35881-5
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-35882-2